UPDATE 2-Micron 'optimistic' Elpida deal will close in current quarter

June 19, 2013|Reuters

* Third-quarter earnings $0.04/share vs est $0.02

* Revenue $2.32 bln vs est $2.25 bln

* Average selling prices of DRAM chips rise 16 pct

By Sruthi Ramakrishnan

June 19 (Reuters) - Micron Inc reported abetter-than-expected quarterly profit as prices for its memorychips rose, and said it was "optimistic" that its acquisition ofbankrupt Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc wouldclose in the current quarter.

Micron would defer some capital spending in the first halfof its fiscal year ending August 2014 following the completionof the deal, Chief Financial Officer Ronald Foster said on aconference call with analysts.

"We expect to pick up this spending in 2014 as we integratethe two companies," he said.

The company previously expected the deal to close in thefirst half of this year.

Micron's acquisition of Elpida, proposed in July last year,moved closer to completion after a key deadline for U.S.creditors to raise objections passed without a legal challengeearlier this month.

Acquisition of Elpida, the last of Japan's dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) chipmakers, will create economies of scaleand the combined company will rank second only to SamsungElectronics in the memory chip market.

HIGHER DRAM PRICING

Micron said average selling prices of its DRAM chips isestimated to rise in the mid to high single digits in thecurrent quarter. They rose 16 percent in the third quarter.

"The DRAM supply and demand balance remains favorable ... webelieve the situation will remain for the second half ofcalendar year 2013," Chief Executive Mark Durcan said on theconference call.